That morning, Li Zan slept until he woke up naturally.
He hadn't had a good sleep for a long time. After returning to China, he slept for a long time day and night in the past few days.
I woke up around 8am.
Song Ran opened the curtains, and the morning sunlight slanted in. The trees outside the window were lush and green, and the morning light sprinkled on the green leaves.
She opened the window. The world was still quiet and the air was fresh.
"It's a nice day today." She smiled at him, went back to the bedside, and leaned beside him, "A-Zan, I'll take you to the military hospital for a checkup today. Don't be afraid."
He smiled, with the tenderness of someone who had just woken up: "I'm not a child."
Song Ran's heart softened, and she held his hand and whispered, "A-Zan, do you know what month it is now?"
He said nothing.
"It's August," she said. "Half a year has passed. The war in Cangdi ended long ago, and the East Country is rebuilding everywhere now, did you know that?"
He said, “I don’t know.”
"It doesn't matter. You just need to know that you have returned home. We are now in Liangcheng, in our own home." She said softly, "We have returned home. Do you know?"
Li Zan's dark eyes cast a shadow over her face and he said, "I know."
He looked straight at her, his eyes fixed on her, but out of the corner of his eye he saw the trees outside, which were illuminated by the sun and looked white. The wind blew the trees, swaying them, as if they had changed shape.
He didn't want to see it.
"Smell it." She pulled the quilt up and put it close to his face. "It smells like home."
He sniffed and his eyes softened.
She leaned over and hugged his neck, her figure blocking the green outside the window.
"A-Zan, the doctor said you would think this was an illusion and that you were still in the East Country. No, I brought you back. Do you remember?"
He nodded: "I remember."
"If you forget, I'll remind you."
"good."
…
After they finished their breakfast, they packed up and went out together. Li Zan had injured legs and feet, so he had to lean on a metal cane, which made it difficult for him to walk.
Song Ran helped him slowly down the stairs.
At 8:30 in the morning, the temperature had risen.
He moved down the stairs with great effort, sweat on his forehead. As he slowly walked around the corner, he couldn't help but curl the corners of his lips.
Song Ran tilted his head and shook the strands of hair on his forehead. Seeing that he was smiling, he couldn't help but feel better. He asked, "A-Zan, what are you laughing at?"
His eyes curved slightly: "I feel like this is like us getting old, in our seventies or eighties."
Song Ran stared at his footsteps on the stairs and smiled: "Isn't that good? It will be like this when we get old."
"When you get old, let me help you," he said.
"Then you need to get better quickly, eat more, and exercise slowly."
"Okay," he said, smoothing a lock of her hair and tucking it behind her ear.
Song Ran helped him into the car.
It was still early, there were not many vehicles or pedestrians on the road, it was relatively quiet, and the sun was shining brightly.
Song Ran avoided the road with many traffic intersections and took the ring road. Along the way, he glanced at Li Zan from time to time. He was leaning on the back of the seat with a calm expression and clear eyes.
We arrived at the military hospital safely.
The team has taken care of it, but his case is special so he doesn't need to register.
Early in the morning, the hospital was crowded with people, and Song Ran held his hand inadvertently. Li Zan, leaning on his cane, slowly walked through the hall. Ten meters away from the elevator, his hand trembled, and suddenly stopped, saying, "Can we take the escalator?"
"OK."
She realized that he had been imprisoned in a cell, a dark room, and a water dungeon.
She suppressed the pain in her heart and helped him up the escalator.
There was someone walking fast on the escalator, so Song Ran moved aside and stood in front of Li Zan.
People passing by saw that they were inconvenienced and kindly reminded them, "There is a direct elevator over there."
Song Ran smiled: "Thank you."
The Special Needs Department is on the 7th floor.
The attending physician wrote a bunch of examination lists for Li Zan, and the nurse led him to perform dozens of examinations including blood drawing, sampling, ultrasound, CT, etc.
When checking bone density, the doctor said the value was a little low and that he should pay attention to calcium supplementation. Song Ran remembered this.
I measured my height and weight, and the instrument showed 55.6 kilograms. The doctor said I was extremely thin and needed nutritional supplements.
Song Ran said worriedly, "I've clearly eaten a lot these past few days, but why haven't I gained any weight?"
Li Zan pursed his lips and said, "Then I'll have another bowl of rice tonight."
All the tests were completed at 11 a.m. Most of the test results would take a few days to come out.
Song Ran thanked the doctor and helped Li Zan return the same way.
At this time, there were more people coming and going in the hospital, and the hall was crowded, even a little bit congested.
Song Ran carefully watched over him, and finally avoided the crowd, walked through the hall to the door, and the automatic shielding door opened, and the two were about to go out. But at this moment, someone suddenly hurried forward from behind, rushing to go out, too fast to avoid, accidentally bumped into Li Zan, and kicked his cane away.
The metal cane flew several meters away and hit the ground with a harsh metallic sound.
Li Zan's body swayed and his expression suddenly changed.
Blades, whips, nails, chains... scenes suddenly flashed before my eyes.
The person who bumped into him was a boy of about eighteen or nineteen years old. He hurriedly and impatiently walked a few meters away to pick up the cane.
Song Ran said hurriedly: "Give it to me."
The young man didn't know the rules and was too lazy to take a few more steps to pass it to her. He simply raised the metal staff and handed it to her, letting her take the end, as if she was holding a spear.
Just as Song Ran was about to reach out, Li Zan suddenly pulled her behind him to protect her and kicked the cane away. The metal cane bounced back and hit the boy's forehead hard, causing him to scream in pain.
The stick hit the ground, making a ping-pong sound.
"You are fucking sick!" the young man yelled. His mother, a middle-aged woman, angrily scolded, "What's wrong with you, young man? Why are you hitting people?!" The woman felt sorry for her son and stepped forward to grab Li Zan's sleeve: "You must apologize to my son right now..."
Li Zan was unable to avoid it and suddenly threw her away. The woman stumbled back a few steps and called for help in disbelief: "Everyone come and help, someone is being beaten! Someone is being beaten!"
The son was getting more and more angry. The young man, full of youthful energy, picked up his cane and hit him. Li Zan's eyes suddenly turned cold, and he held Song Ran's hand, stepped forward to catch the cane, and pulled it hard, and the young man rushed forward. Li Zan raised his foot to kick, but Song Ran rushed forward to block him, grabbed the cane tightly, and pushed the young man away.
"A-Zan, it's okay!"
But Li Zan's eyes and expression completely changed.
The onlookers pointed and talked, and they all held up their cell phones.
They held guns.
Li Zan immediately hugged Song Ran tightly in his arms, quickly leaned on his cane, and ran away. However, he happened to run into an ambulance that stopped and the injured person whose leg was broken in the traffic accident was carried out of the car.
The blood burned his eyes like fire.
The woman and the boy pushed the crowd aside and chased after them, shouting, "You hit someone and you still want to run away? Stop!"
"Azan!" Song Ran wanted to stop him and comfort him, but it was useless.
His eyes were determined but fearful, unyielding but alert, his face was cold and pale, his chest was heaving violently, and he held her tightly as he tried to escape forward.
I staggered to the side of the road, where bicycles and motorcycles sped past. The street was crowded with cars, honking their horns everywhere.
For a moment he didn't know where to escape and looked around.
That happy and peaceful dream suddenly shattered like glass. The clothes on the clothesline, her back in the kitchen, the quilt with the smell, and the curtains shining with sunlight were all shattered.
He stood in a hell on earth, tall buildings collapsed in explosions, flames burned in the streets, shells flew across the sky, and military vehicles sped through the smoke.
, his comrades—Benjamin, Morgan, George, Kevin—died one by one in the d-ia:n rain.
Countless enemies rushed forward with guns in hand, and bullets were fired without stopping for a moment.
The woman, the teenager, and the crowd holding their cell phones all caught up with them.
Li Zan panicked and dragged Song Ran to one side to escape, but the more anxious he was, the more disordered his steps became, and he stumbled and fell to the ground.
Song Ran called him in pain: "A Zan, it's okay, we're going home..."
"Ran Ran," he could no longer hear anything, and hurriedly hugged her tightly, hunched his back and waist, protecting her in his arms, using his body to shield her. But the blood on her neck was gushing out, and he covered her neck, trying to block the wound, but the warm and sticky liquid kept seeping through his fingers.
"Ran Ran..." He lowered his head, tears pouring out like crazy, "No!" His back moved, pressed tightly against her "cold" cheek, and his whole body trembled with tears, "Ran Ran..."
"A-Zan, the war is over." Song Ran burst into tears, "It's over, we're going home!"
Yes, the war was over, but he did not go home. He became a lonely ghost, wandering in the ruins of a foreign land.
And in this huge city, he is an isolated island.
Passersby were talking about these two crazy people who had lost their minds.
The son couldn't bear to see her like this, but the woman wouldn't give in and kept arguing with him, demanding an explanation.
Security guards and police officers at the checkpoint rushed over and evacuated the crowd.
A policeman came over and patted Li Zan on the shoulder: "What's going on..."
Li Zan suddenly turned around, forcefully opened his hands, and held Song Ran back for a distance.
The woman shouted, "I told you he beat someone up, did you see that? I'm calling the police!"
Song Ran's tears were still wet as she apologized: "I'm sorry, he's not in a good mood..."
The woman couldn't swallow her anger: "If you are a psychopath, lock him up at home and don't let him out! What if he hurts someone?"
Song Ran gritted her teeth, clenched her fists, and suppressed the hatred in her heart. He was in a bad condition now, and she didn't want to argue with others and provoke him.
Some people around couldn't bear to watch and said, "She's also very pitiful, just forget it."
"That's right. Besides, you were the ones who hit me first."
The woman was about to say something, but the boy felt embarrassed and dragged his mother: "Let's go, let's go."
The woman left with a grumble.
"Disperse, everyone disperse!" The police drove away the crowd around and came to inquire about Li Zan's situation.
But Li Zan was on alert and didn't let anyone get close to him and Song Ran.
The police found the situation serious and told Song Ran to go to the hospital for a check-up.
Song Ran didn't dare to go and hurriedly said that he had just found out the result of the examination.
The police realized that something was wrong and decided to send the man to a psychiatric department for examination.
The doctor's examination results showed extremely severe PTSD symptoms, and in extreme cases, there was a tendency towards sha're:n, so it was recommended that the patient be sent to a mental hospital.
The doctor was communicating with the police in the office, while Song Ran sat with Li Zan in the corridor.
The police didn't come out yet, she gradually became uneasy, biting her finger and stood up. Li Zan had calmed down by now, staring blankly into space.
She walked up to him, touched his face, and coaxed him softly: "Don't be afraid, A-Zan."
He raised his face and smiled at her: "Ran Ran, I'm sorry."
"Don't say that." Her eyes reddened and she shook her head.
He pulled the corners of his mouth hard, trying to smile at her, but the smile couldn't stay on, it was very ugly: "I'm sorry, I've caused you trouble again. Ranran, you take me to..."
"Don't say that!" She suddenly screamed in a low voice, "Aren't you afraid that I'll be angry?!" She glared at him fiercely, tears already forming in her eyes, and she almost gritted her teeth, "Don't you dare say sorry to me again! You're not wrong! You're not sorry to me!"
He stopped talking, looking up at her with straight and moist eyes.
She regretted her loss of composure again. She looked up at the sky, took a deep breath, and looked down at him: "A-Zan, I'm not angry with you." Her lips trembled, and she gritted her teeth, "I am..."
"I hate this world." She said, finally complaining, "I hate the whole world!"
He whispered, "I know."
"Don't tell me you're sorry again." She hugged him, lowered her head, rubbed his hair, and said distressedly, "A-Zan, you are not a burden to me, not at all."
He hugged her waist, rested his head on her chest, and closed his eyes. Her waist was slender but warm, very real.
The shame and panic in my heart gradually dissipated, and a warm power surged in.
True or false, it doesn't matter.
At this moment, he just wanted to lean on her. Even if it was just for a moment of peace, he was unwilling to let go.
"A-Zan."
"Um?"
"If you tell me again that you want me to send you away, I will!" But when it came to her lips, she couldn't say anything harsh to him, her heart ached so much that it was about to break, "Tell me the truth, do you want to be sent away?"
"I don't want to go to a mental hospital," said Li Zan.
"Ran Ran, take me away."
"Okay. Let's go." Song Ran said, helped him up, took the cane and handed it to him, and was about to leave.
At this time, the police officer came out of the office and called out, "Wait a minute! The matter here has not been resolved yet." He said to Song Ran, "He has mental problems and needs to go to a mental hospital for treatment."
Song Ran stood in front of Li Zan and said, "I don't agree. Who can take him away?"
"You... are his family member?"
"Yes." Song Ran said, "I am his wife."
Li Zan was slightly startled and held her hand tightly.
"As a family member, you should be responsible. He can't be in this state. What if he hurts someone?"
"Who did he hurt just now?" Song Ran questioned, "In this situation, the police have no right to take him away."
The policeman didn't say anything for a moment.
Song Ran didn't stay for long. He turned around, supported Li Zan, and walked out of the corridor step by step.
After getting in the car, Song Ran suddenly said, "Azan, do you remember that you said we would get married when we returned to China?"
At that moment, he pursed his lips and smiled: "Remember."
…
Song Ran and Li Zan did not go home, but went straight to the army from the hospital to find Chen Feng.
I didn't expect that Chen Feng went out of town for a meeting and was not here during this period.
The leader disagreed, saying, "Zhan cannot get married in his current mental state. This is against the rules."
Song Ran said: "If he wasn't a soldier, he and I could go to the Civil Affairs Bureau to get the marriage certificate without going through the censorship, and no one would be able to tell. Besides, after we get married, we will move to a quiet place, so there will be no problem."
The leader still refused to give in: "He won't be able to pass the political review in his situation. How about this, wait until he gets better, and then I'll do it for you?"
Song Ran couldn't convince the other party, so he said goodbye and drove for several hours to Jiangcheng.
When Luo Zhan saw Li Zan again, he felt relieved and distressed, and asked a lot of questions about his treatment and rehabilitation.
He comforted her, "Azan, relax and don't think too much. You have made contributions, but the files are still top secret, so we can't give you a commendation. Don't feel pressured about the treatment, let's just let it go. If you have any questions, please report them to the organization in a timely manner."
Li Zan smiled: "No other questions, just - Political Commissar, I want to marry Song Ran."
Luo Zhan was stunned and stopped talking.
Song Ran stepped forward and said, "Political Commissar, it was my idea to rush to Jiangcheng today."
"I'm not here to cause trouble. I just remembered something you said when we were in the peacekeeping camp. You said, 'Song Ran, if you like anyone in this camp, no matter who it is, as long as they are not married, just ask and the organization will arrange it for you.'
Political Commissar, does this still count?"
Song Ran said, "I fell in love with Captain Li. I fell in love with him at that time. I want to marry him. Will the organization arrange it for me?"